Matt Shirk is the fourth Public Defender elected to serve the 4th Judicial Circuit, winning an unprecedented election for the office in 2008.He began a four-year term in January of 2009. Mr. Shirk is committed to providing the Fourth Judicial Circuit with an efficient administration, effective legal representation and engagement in the communities he serves. Prior to becoming Public Defender, Shirk spent time as a sole practitioner, as an associate with a Jacksonville law firm and five years as an Assistant Public Defender under the late Lou Frost. He worked in the State Attorney’s office as a law student. Matt Shirk earned his J.D. from Florida Coastal School of Law in 1999. As a law student, he received various awards and accolades for his academic accomplishments as well as his extra-curricular involvement. Matt holds two Bachelor’s Degrees from Western Illinois University; Law Enforcement Administration and Political Science.Presently, Shirk resides in Jacksonville with his wife Michelle and their son Pierce. He is on the Board of Directors for the Clara White Mission and the Northeast Florida Safety Council. He serves as an Advisory Board Member for the Salvation Army and an Alumni Board member at Florida Coastal School of Law. He is a member of the Southside Business Men’s Club and First Baptist Church downtown.

EDUCATION: University of Florida with a BA in English (1993). Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham AL with a JD (1997).

LEGAL EXPERIENCE: Admitted to the Bar in 1997. Assistant Public Defender, 4th Judicial Circuit (Florida) from June 1997 to June 2000) Private practice from mid-2000 to present. Admitted to practice in the following courts: United States District Court Middle Court; and all Florida state courts. State qualified for Death Penalty representation. Have done approximately 15 death cases, of which about six were ones in which death was on the table.

COMMUNITY SERVICE: I’ve been coaching children’s flag football for 7 seasons now. For the last couple of years I’ve volunteered as a head coach for 19 sports.

PERSONAL: Born and grew up in Jacksonville FL. Married to Kelli Alford Fletcher since 1995 and we have four children together: Kathryn, Rinn, Will and Wayne. The Fletcher family has been in Jacksonville for over a century. My uncles, Paul and Jerome Fletcher, sold the land that became the TPC at Sawgrass to the PGA for one dollar. My father’s cousin was a Duval County Judge for 24 years.

MEMORABLE CASERepresenting a falsely accused law enforcement officer was tough work, but it turned out to be a great day. Terry Jenkins lived in Starke and worked as a prison guard at the Bradford County jail. On April 6, 2005, Mr. Jenkins was indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly beating an inmate while working at the jail on March 30, 2005. The United States was represented by two seasoned Assistant United States Attorneys, one of whom was flown in from the Department of Justice in Washington D.C. just for the trial. I represented Mr. Jenkins at his trial. At trial, the government called the alleged victim of the assault to the stand, and he testified that late at night on March 30, 2005, he was taken from his cell to a room several hallways away. In that room, he testified, Officer Jenkins threatened him, punched him repeatedly, and when he fell to the ground, pummeled him with his fists and his boots. The government also offered testimony from witnesses who worked for the FBI, indicating that the alleged victm had a black eye and that the victim’s white T-shirt had a black substance smeared on it that was consistent with the shoe polish found on Officer Jenkin’s work boots. In addition, the government also showed a video of the alleged victim being removed from his cell late at night and taken to a room with no cameras by Officer Jenkins. To top it off, the government also called 5 inmates who all testified that they heard a man being horribly beaten. When it was our turn, Mr. Jenkins testified that he removed the alleged victim from his cell because he was fighting with his roomate. We also called another guard from the jail, who testified that the black substance on the alleged victim’s shirt was also consistent with the black grease used to lubricate the many sliding metal jail doors, and that even he had some on his shirt from rubbing into it. Finally, I had driven to Miami the week before the trial and found a witness who had been in the jail at the same time, and he testified that the alleged victim was trying to frame Officer Jenkins so he could sue the State of Florida for money. On July 14, 2005, after a four-day trial, Officer Jenkins was found Not Guilty.

Matt Shirk running an efficient and effective office? Please! All one has to do is inquire of the legal community of some of the most respectable attorneys (yes, there are few out there, that's not meant to be an oxymoron), and you will learn the truth about Matt shirk and what a disgrace he is to the people and the ones he represents. This man is outright despicable. In fact, he steals, that's right--STEALS!--from the indigent for his OWN personal use. Stealing from the POOR, the very people he is charged to defend, converting the very dollars allocated to defend OUR CONSTITUTION for his own gallivanting. Utterly disgusting! Call him what he is: Sheriff of Nottingham. This is all true, there has been a comprehensive package detailing Matt Shirk's thievery sent to thee State Attorney herself, Ms. Angela Corey. Ms. Corey has since forwarded that information to the Governor, who then handed it off to the FDLE where now Matt Shirk is under investigation. Back to Shirk running an efficient administration: he has filled his office full of high-paying positions he himself created solely for his non-attorney friends and cronies whom he thinks will help him politically. High-paying positions with perks and rampant double dipping, now outlawed by the Governor, the prior administration never had. Sound like an efficient administration run by a conservative Republican? These are the facts. Not opinion, or rumor, but hard-to-swallow facts. And Shirk's nauseating claims of saving the taxpayer? He is flip-flopper the likes of which we have not seen since Kerry. Just do a little research, specifically, the Christian Fernandez case where Shirk's total ineptitude was in full display. Shirk's very own supporter, Mr. Hugh Cotney, asked the Court to oust him as the boy's attorney. It was done. Don't kid yourselves with how Shirkster tried to spin it after the fact. Guess he calls that effective representation? No, flip-flopper Shirk said one thing during the pendency of his removal from the Fernandez case, and quite another when he was permitted to save face. What an embarrassment. Can't believe a word this guy says. Then again, how can you trust the words from a thief?